WMU garners more than $2 million in grants during month of March

Contact: Mark Schwerin

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Western Michigan University amassed more than $2 million in externally funded awards in March, pushing the year-to-date total to nearly $19.5 million since the start of the 2015-16 fiscal year, WMU trustees learned at their April 21 meeting.

About the grants

Grants for public service topped other categories, coming in at $897,840, followed by grants for research at $678,761. Grants for instruction hit $434,900. Grants for public service were led by a $533,440 award from Kalamazoo Community Mental Health to Dr. Carol Sundberg, director of the Center for Disability Services, to provide daily living, communication, behavior control and social skill services to developmentally disabled adults.

Research awards were topped by a new grant of $161,802 from the Michigan Department of Transportation to Drs. Valerian Kwigizile and Jun-Seok Oh, assistant professor and professor, respectively, of civil and construction engineering, and Dr. Hyunkeun Cho, assistant professor of statistics. The grant will be used to document crash history and conduct speed studies to assess the effect of posted speed limit changes on crash type, severity and speed at specific freeway sites over the past 15 years.

Grants for instruction were headed by a new $350,000 award from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to Dr. Stephanie Peterson, chair of the Department of Psychology; Drs. Jessica E. Frieder, assistant professor of psychology; and R. Wayne Fuqua and Alan D. Poling, professors of psychology. That grant will be used to increase the breadth of services offered through WMU's Autism Center for Excellence and to enhance its sustainability.

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